Landfall

The Stars Like Sand

The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry is a well-reviewed 2014 anthology of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror poetry that I co-edited with P. S. Cottier. You can buy The Stars Like Sand from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle ebook.

Men Briefly Explained

Men Briefly Explained is my 2011 poetry collection that explains men, briefly. You can buy Men Briefly Explained from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle ebook.

My Library from LibraryThing

About Me

I'm a writer, editor, anthologist, and now blogger who was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England and moved to New Zealand with my family when I was 2.
I grew up on the West Coast and in Southland, then went to Dunedin to go to Otago University before moving to Wellington in 1993. I'm married with one child.
I'm juggling the writing of poetry, short fiction and novels, working part time, trying to be a good husband and father, and working hard to get New Zealand to take effective action on climate change - not to mention all the other problems the world faces. Life is busy!

Following the publication of the The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, I asked the Book Council to update my page - which they promptly and efficiently did. Along the way, I discovered that there is now a formal selection process for inclusion in the Writer Files, and that if you're a writer who has had at least one book-length project published (print or digital) and not already included, you have until 28 November to apply for inclusion:

We are continually improving our Writers Files to maintain their
breadth, diversity and accuracy. If you are interested in applying for a
Writers File, please read the criteria below.

The addition of authors to the Writers Files is at the discretion of the
Book Council’s Website Editorial Panel. In order to best manage our
limited writing and editing resources, this selection panel considers
authors for a new intake once a year, in December, and up to ten new authors are added. Key dates for 2014

November 28: Applications close

December 09: Website Editorial Panel meet to consider applications

December 19: Applicants notified of Panel decision

The minimum criterion for inclusion is that a writer has published at
least one book-length publication (print or digital) or, in the case of
dramatists and scriptwriters, critically acclaimed performances or
productions. Factors that the Panel will consider are:

the critical response to published work/s

how the author's inclusion in the Writers Files will contribute to the overall diversity of the Writers Files

We also require writers who are profiled in our Writers Files to keep us
updated (within reason) about new work, reviews or awards that might be
relevant to their Writers File.Download an application form here.

Having a Writers' Files entry is a bit like having a better-formatted Wikipedia page with nice people standing by to update it for you (as long as you don't ask for updates more than a couple of times per year), so if you are an author with at least one published book, I think it's worth applying.

Thanks, Rachel and Harvey! I believe the writers' file entries do get quite a lot of visitors - especially from students & teachers for school projects - so I think it;' is worth getting in there if possible.